Biden open to giving fewer people pacing checks as ‘weeks’ of delays loom

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Sunday that President Joe Biden was still prepared to lower the income threshold for stimulus checks of $ 1,400 in his $ 1.9 trillion relief package. She also said direct payments could be delayed by several weeks as Democrats determine the best way forward for the $ 15 minimum wage measure.

Biden is prepared to target the controls more to “make sure they hit the Americans who need this help most,” Psaki said on Fox News Sunday, adding that the president will not negotiate the amount of direct payments.

On Friday night, the House of Representatives passed the sprawling relief legislation, pushing it through the Senate, where Republicans are expected to propose several amendments to the bill. Any accepted amendment will then be returned to the House for a final vote.

On Tuesday, Senator Susan Collins said she was in talks with Democrats to lower the income threshold for direct payments as an amendment. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin confirmed the ongoing amendment discussions on Sunday, saying that “this is one of the topics the bipartisan group of senators has been raising from the start,” according to Hill.

Under the current bill, people earning less than $ 75,000 a year would receive $ 1,400 and married couples earning less than $ 150,000 would receive $ 2,800. Those who earn above the threshold would receive less payouts and those who earn over $ 100,000 would be wiped out altogether. The eligibility conditions are in line with the first two rounds of checks sent under former President Donald Trump.

Earlier this month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated that Democrats hope the bill will pass in Congress by the end of February. Senate Democrats had paved the way for using the budget process called reconciliation to push through the package without GOP support, but every Democrat in the upper house would have to vote for the measure, as all 50 Republican senators would have to vote. against.

Moderate Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have previously said they oppose raising the minimum wage to $ 15.

This week, Senatorial MP Elizabeth MacDonough, a non-partisan interpreter of House rules, ruled that the $ 15 minimum wage did not meet reconciliation requirements. After his decision, Democrats spent the weekend exploring other avenues to pass the wage hike.

Sure Fox News SundayPsaki reaffirmed Biden’s commitment to the $ 15 minimum wage and insisted he would find a way forward, while warning that it could take “days or even weeks.”

“The president supports exactly what Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is doing, which is to raise the minimum wage for Americans who are trying to make ends meet. And he thinks that has been done for a long time,” he said. she added.

Progressive House Democrats have warned they could suspend voting on the bill if the upper house removes the wage hike. “I don’t think we can go back to the voters and say, ‘Look, I know the Republicans, Democrats, Independents are backing this; we promised it, but because of an unelected parliamentarian who made us a decision, we couldn’t do it. ”Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told reporters on Friday.

Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment.